Terror groups planning invasion of northern Israel, defense minister warns

Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas are expanding their operations in Syria, including in the southern part of the country, near the Israeli Golan Heights.

By World Israel News Staff

Arab terrorist groups are establishing themselves along Israel’s northern border on the Golan frontier, the Israeli defense chief warned on Wednesday, adding that a much-anticipated deal with Syria does not appear to be within reach at this time.

Defense Minister Israel Katz (Likud) addressed a closed-door meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, informing lawmakers that Israel is currently “not headed toward” peace with Syria, despite reports in recent weeks of progress toward a new security deal with Damascus.

According to a report Thursday morning by Israel’s national broadcaster, Kan Reshet Bet, Katz told MKs during the hearing that military intelligence indicates that terrorist groups, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, are expanding their operations in Syria, including in the southern part of the country, near the Israeli Golan Heights.

These terror groups appear to be readying themselves for a major confrontation with Israel, Katz continued, including a possible invasion of the Golan.

Katz added that the Ansar Allah terror group, an Iranian-backed Yemeni Shiite group better known as the Houthis, also has established a presence in southern Syria and is involved in plans for a possible incursion into northern Israel.

Uri Kelner, chief of the Golan Regional Council, said at Wednesday’s committee hearing that given the security threats in the north, Israel must retain control of the Golan buffer zone, including the summit of Mount Hermon.

“It is clear to us that our enemies around us continue to think about how to harm us,” Kelner said. “Reality obligates us to act with prudence, strength, and long-term planning — not to prepare for the previous war, but for the next challenge.”

“The IDF must continue to deepen its foothold in the buffer zone and the Hermon summit, establish deterrence, and ensure an immediate response to any scenario.”

Damascus has repeatedly stated that it will not sign a new security agreement with Israel unless the IDF withdraws fully from the Golan buffer zone, returning to the pre-December 2024 frontier lines.

Israel has expressed concerns that such a deal would prevent it from coming to the aid of the Druze community in southern Syria – a population with close ties to the Druze in Israel.

Katz told lawmakers that the IDF “has a plan ready, and if raid-style attacks on the Druze Mountain area happen again, we will intervene.”